Surgery Date!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a quick post to keep you all updated.

Caydence had her big Cardiology appointment this afternoon. She first had a chest x-ray. Next, an echocardiogram, because her Cardiologist and Surgeon wanted to see a few more angles of the heart.

Then we finally got to meet with the Surgeon. He thought it would be a good time to schedule her surgery. Caydence is showing some signs of heart failure. Nothing severe, but enough to warrant surgery. She is breathing harder, she has a little more blood in her lungs, and her heart is a bit enlarged. But the surgeon said this was good because if she wasn't showing, these things, then something could be wrong. Something to do with muscle build up... Josh knows the technical stuff more than me.

Anyway, her surgery is tentatively scheduled for the morning of Dec 14th. It will take roughly 4 hours and is typically a 10 day hospital stay, so hopefully she'll be home by Christmas!

The surgeon has done this specific surgery hundreds of times. In fact he just did one this morning on a three month old. They have all been successful. Of course, he had to tell us there was a 2 - 3% chance of complications and a very very small chance she won't make it. But I just try not to think about it.

Every surgery has it's risks and without this surgery, Caydence definitely wouldn't survive.

If you want to learn more about Caydence's specific heart defect, there is a great website that explains it very well. See http://www.pted.org/?id=atrioventricularcomplete1. If you scroll over the heart diagrams on page 1, it shows you how Caydence's heart looks now, and the what it's supposed to look like. Page 3 shows an animation on how they repair her heart.

To the Mom's out there reading who have gone through this already... Adrienne, Carrie, Andrea... Any advice?!?!?!

I know it's gonna be one of the hardest days of our lives, but I can't wait until it's all over and Caydence's heart is all mended <3

Please keep Caydence in your prayers. Especially on December 14th!

RSV and a Play Date

November marks the beginning of the RSV season and Friday I took Caydence to get her first Synagis injection. It won't stop Caydence from contracting RSV, but it will make her symptoms much less severe if she does get it.

Many of you are probably wondering what RSV is. Don't worry, I hadn't heard of it before either. Here is a brief overview...

RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus and is one of the leading causes of lung infections in infants and small children. RSV is a very common respiratory infection.

The symptoms of RSV are similar to the common cold. Usually, children with RSV will have a mild fever for a few days, a runny nose for 1-2 weeks, and a cough which may last for several weeks.

This doesn't seem too concerning right? However, some children, especially infants less than one year old, or children with other medical problems (like Caydence) can develop a serious RSV infection. Children with a serious case of RSV may need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.

By the age of three, almost all children will have had RSV. And once you have had it, you CAN get it again, although symptoms may not be as severe. An adult with RSV may just have common cold symptoms.

RSV is spread by coming into contact with an infected person and the droplets they produce when they cough or sneeze. Careful hand washing with soap and water is the best way to prevent the spread of RSV.

So, on the recommendation of her doctors, Caydence will get monthly Synagis injections throughout the winter months to prevent a severe case of RSV. The nurse we saw gave us a free little sign to hang on her car seat to remind people to wash their hands.



For more information on RSV visit the CDC's RSV Homepage

Josh and I both received the seasonal flu vaccine and H1N1 vaccine and once Caydence is old enough she can get them as well.

Tomorrow we are supposed to meet with Caydence's heart surgeon during her cardiology appointment to figure out when to have her surgerys. Hopefully the surgeon doesn't get called away and we are able to meet with him and get all our questions answered. I'm nervous, anxious, and excited all at once.

I can't wait until it's all over and Caydence is all better. Next June we are going to have the biggest 1st Birthday/Post OP Party ever! It will be a great day. I can't wait <3 Yesterday, Caydence had her second playdate with her friend Olivia. My friend Melissa and I decided that we had better get together before the holidays while everyone is still healthy. So Melissa, her husband Jim, and daughter Olivia came over for a bit. Olivia is sooo much bigger next to Caydence. Here are some pics...











That's all for this post. Hopefully, next time I write, we'll have a date for her heart surgery! Stay Tuned...

5 months!

5 months ago today Caydence was born! I can't believe it. The time has flown! She is getting so much bigger and her hair is getting so long.

Last week we met with the GI specialist. Caydence is now over the 10 lb mark. She weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz! We voiced our concerns about Caydence NG tube and the specialist agreed that a G-Tube would be best for Caydence. So she was going to meet with Caydence's cardiologist to see if it would be better to do the G-tube surgery before or after her heart surgery.



When she was telling us about the G-tube surgery, I was tearing up a little. I felt kind of stupid cuz compared to her heart surgery, the g-tube really isn't a big deal. It is a very minor surgery, but they still have to put her under and make an incision and everything.

I keep worrying about her being scared or in pain and it just breaks my heart everytime I think about it. I love her sooo much. I would do anything if she didn't have to go through all this.



I called last week and found out that Caydence DOES have my blood clotting disorder :( So now on top of all the other doctor's we have, we now get to meet with a Hematologist. We'll have to determine if she'll need to be on blood thinners during her surgeries. That was kind if a blow. I mean, after everything, it would have been nice to find out she didn't have my clotting disorder. But at least we knew to test for it and we can take measures to protect her.



She's been sleeping a lot lately, I don't know if it's just cause her heart is working so hard and it makes her tired out or maybe she is going through a growth spurt. Or maybe she is just sleeping a lot because that's what babies do. Who knows...



Yesterday morning the GI specialist called me back and said she had spoke with the Cardiology staff and I guess we're going to meet with the cardiac surgeon next Monday during our appointment and decide when best to do both surgeries. Hopefully he doesn't get called away on an emergency or something because Josh and I really want to meet with him and get this all behind us.

This past Sunday Caydence was baptized. Josh and I hadn't been to church since before Caydence was born and it was nice to see all our friends there. Hopefully once Caydence is all healed up from her surgeries we can start going again on a normal basis. Here are some pics from her big day...

Everyone was excited to see Caydence, especially the children.



Caydence stared at the ceiling fans almost the whole time we were there. She loves ceiling fans. They're like big mobiles!



Here is Pastor Sylvia Baptizing Caydence



Here we are with Caydence's Godparents Kris, Louie, & Brent